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BOS Information Session Follow-Up

At its June 1 meeting, the Board of Selectmen was provided with further information regarding infill choices for the proposed synthetic field. This memo from the town’s consultant (VHB) includes a table showing some available infills and their various properties. Selection of infill for a synthetic field project depends on a variety of factors, including site properties, safety, intended sports usage, life cycle and cost.

While the infill will not be chosen until later in the design process (if Question 2 is approved), VHB did offer some preliminary recommendations with respect to infill selection. First, since the field is in a floodway, VHB would not recommend the use of either crumb rubber (SBR) or organic infill, as each is too buoyant to be appropriate for the site. Second, VHB would not recommend sand as an appropriate choice given the variety of sports the field is intended to accommodate. At this phase of concept design, and subject to further study, VHB indicated that either Coated Crumb Rubber (Encapsulated SBR) or EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), each of which comes in colors other than black, would be a reasonable choice for the proposed field. These could increase the cost of the project by $100,000 to $270,000. The estimated tax impact of an increase in that range would be approximately 85 cents for an average household (i.e., an increase from approximately $14.00 to about $16.50). See Tax Impact Page for estimated tax projections.